To Let Go
by Shadow Smoke
Summary: Sakura hurt s Naruto for the last time. He desides it s time to let go but, what did she do to the blonde boy? What was so bad that he would forsake his love for the pink haired girl? Will Sakura realise the mistake she has made in time?
1. Chapter 1

To Let Go

"She actually said yes, Ayame nee-chan. I can`t wait for our date!" The hyper active ball of energy said loudly as he slurped up the noodles from his ramen bowl. The owner`s daughter, Ayame just smiled fondly towards the boy she had come to care like a little brother. He had come into the Ichiraku Ramen`s stand much more hyper than usual and she was happy to see him so alive.

"Oh really, so that Sakura I hear so much about finally opened her eyes to the stunning young man in front of her eh?" Ayame said patting his head making him pout cutely. "It`s about time, you have been crushing on her for a long time now." The young girl finished happily making Naruto even happier, if that was possible.

"Oh really, so Naruto-kun finally got the girl eh?" Teuchi asked as he came from the kitchen, he couldn`t help but direct a smile towards the extremely happy boy over the counter. "Well now, the ramen`s on the house to commemorate this occasion." The old man said making Naruto`s smile brighten even more. He really shouldn`t be giving free food like that for such trivial matters but the smile that the boy had was just too cute to resist.

"Thanks old man, you're the best."

(Yamanaka Flower Shop: Ino`s room)

You did what?!" Ino yelled making Sakura lower her head even more in embarrassment. She knew it would come to this the minute she told Ino but she didn`t know what else to do. "How could you say yes to Naruto-baka?" Ino asked her long time, pink haired friend.

"He was just so annoying so I ended up saying yes so he could shut up." Sakura said coldly as she remembered the morning in the academy.

(Flashback)

Sakura was trying but failing horribly to make Sasuke notice her. He just brushed her off like she was so far beneath him that she didn`t deserve even a miniscule level of attention. The now saddened Sakura walked towards a tree that was located in the academy back yard. It was break time and all the students were outside doing what kids do.

"Hey Sakura-chan, are you alright, you look kind of down?" Naruto asked with conscern over her. He had seen the way Sasuke had ignored her and it angered him. He would do anything for her attentiojn but Sasuke just pushed her aside. Some time`s he would think that the brooder was just gay or something.

Sakura was in no mood to deal with Naruto at that particular moment. She saw him as an obstacle towards Sasuke since this little crush he has on her just hindered her progress. He just did not get the message that she was not interested.

"What do you want, Naruto-baka?" Sakura asked coldly making him flinch. He could see the venom in her voice but he would be damned if he relented. She didn`t notice the smile that Naruto had diminish a little though but to say the truth, she didn`t really care.

"I was just worried about you since you seemed sad. Why do you keep trying when he ignores you like that?" Naruto asked, genuinely confused as to why she would continue to try for an ass hole who couldn't give two shits for her. "Hey Sakura, wanna go with me to get something to eat?" Naruto asked entirely ready to cheer her up.

Sakura just scowled, the nuisance did not get message that she wants nothing to do with him. Even after voicing this many times, he still tries without stop. After rejecting him for many times and his pleading for more than five minutes, she finally had it.

"Alright, alright, I`ll go on this stupid date with you." Sakura said angrily but Naruto didn`t really see the tone because he was just too happy from the acceptance of the date. He controlled himself and settled for a huge smile.

"Yes! I`ll meet you at the park at seven."

(Flashback Ends)

Once the story ended, there was silence in the room with Sakura and Ino pondering on what to do next. There had to be something that Sakura could do to avoid this.

"Then don`t show up." Ino said simply yet coldly. This made Sakura think for a couple of seconds, considering the whole scenario. He would probably show up the next day like nothing since he seems to bounce up again after every bad thing that happened. Not that Sakura cared anyways.

"Your right Ino, he`ll be alright the next day." Sakura said but the minute the words left her mouth, a small shiver went up her spine. Like a premonition.

(Small Park in Konoha)

Naruto waited patiently for the arrival of his date with flowers in his hand and new clothes. He wore a simple gray shirt with a sleeveless jacket over it, black pants and gray shoes. He couldn`t do much for his uncontrollable, blond hair but he damn tried. All of this was the result of Ayame of course. She had taken her time explaining all the things he needed to know about a date.

It was exactly seven now and he waited with a beaming smile on his lips. He still couldn`t believe that she had said yes, now all he had to do was impress her and boom, he would have a girlfriend, Not just any girlfriend but his first love.

It was eight now and Sakura was still nowhere to be seen. He still waited with a smile on his face thinking that she probably had something come up at the last minute. He would just wait for her to show up but he couldn`t control the small drop of his smile.

It was now nine and he was starting to sit on the bench next to him. He still held faith that she was just running extremely late. Maybe her mom made her do some chores around the house or something, right?

It was ten and Naruto`s smile was just a fraction of its formal self. He was slouched down on the bench still holding to a shred of faith that she would show up. She wasn`t that cruel, was she?

It was now eleven and his smile had been completely erased as tears cascaded down his cheeks. He was not dumb; he could see now that she would not show up but he still held a small shred of hope that maybe, just maybe she would show.

Twelve hit and everything was closed, the streets were empty and the happy vibe the village held was now one of calm and peace. Everyone was in their homes sleeping peacefully but one boy. He was on a small bench, holding on to a bouquet of flowers with so much force that the flowers had already broken. He stood up as tears fell from his cheeks to the ground below.

He looked at the flowers he had in his hands with emotions running rampant in his head. He clenched his fist as anger bubbled up but was over shadowed by the udder sadness he now had. He was stupid to think she would show up but now. Now he just didn`t know what to think.

He made a decision that day that would change many things in the future. As his hands slowly opened around the bouquet he held, his mind replayed over the memories he had of her.

Baka, dead last, worthless, dimwit, etc.

Why were these the words that came to mind when he thought of her. It was of course, because he didn`t have any fond memories of her. She only brought pain to him in every way she could. He then did something that would affect not only him but the reason for his pain. He not only let go of the bouquet he held.

He let go of his love for Sakura

-Well, this was depressive, it just came to mind cause this so did not happen to me at all. *Sweats uncontrollably.* Tell me if you want me to continue this story but remember that "A Demon`s Grace" Holds up to the primary position in my list.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Visiting a Memory

It was morning in konoha as the first rays of sunshine enveloped the peaceful village. Shops began to open and people started pouring out of their homes to go on with their daily lives. The village was surrounded by an aura of peace that left many with smiles on their faces. Well, almost all.

In his small, dirty apartment, laying on his bed was a blonde boy with a sad expression on hia face. He had not bothered to change his clothes from last night and sleep did not take the poor boy all night. He was tired, sad, angry, confused and so many other things that instead of showing any emotion at all, his face was blank, devoid of any emotion.

Dried tears stained his cheeks as he checked his clock to see he should be bathing and getting ready to the academy. He really didn't want to go and see the cause of his sleepless night today. It would just hurt to much to see her indifference to his pain. Then, a flash memory of what his dream was rushed through his brain.

He needed to go to the academy to become Hokage and he would be damned if this stood in his way. He begrudgingly stood from his bed as he slowly made his way to his bathroom to get ready. He took his wrinkled clothes of and stood in the shower, turning on the water. His hand was against the wall in front of him as he stared towards the floor as his wet bangs covered his eyes that had small tears in them.

He should have seen it coming, he should have been ready. He kept repeating that mantra in his head but the truth was that he wasn't. He had kept that small hope deep in his heart that one day Sakura would see his heart. Now, now he knew better. He had decided to stop with his persuet of someone who did not care for him.

He sighed as he turned the handle, stopping the water from cascading on him. He so wished that the pain would just be swept away by the water that fell from his body down the drain. 'If only it was that easy.' He mentally sighed as he stepped from the shower and began preparing himself.

(Minutes Later)

Naruto was walking on the streets of lifelessly with his hands in his pockets, his sight glued to the ground with a sad expression. The glares and murmers sent his way were not helping in any way, hell, it seemed worst than any other day. He tried hard to ignore them but all the pain he had was to much as another tear fell from his eyes.

The ones around him looked at him quizzely but quickly hardened their gaze. They would not be tricked by the demon and his fake tears. Some day, the demon would get what he diserves, just give it time.

Naruto found himself in front of Ichiraku's without even knowing it. He was supposed to be in the academy but his mind had unconsciesly led him to one of the only places where he felt at ease with himself. He allowed a small smile cross his lips as memories with Ayame and Taichu (desecrated his name, I know) flooded his mind.

His smile widened the minute the smell of ramen hit his nostrils. He decided that the academy could wait since he needed release and eating ramen with two of his favorite people in the world seemed like a god-send at the moment.

He entered through the flaps gaining the attention of both his important people. They both looked at him strangely since he usually wasn't here so early but they both widened their eyes at seeing the boy's state. He did not have the same posture he always did as he was lightly slouched down. His eyes had small bags under them and his eyes were red from crying.

"Naruto boy, are you alright, you look horrible." Taichu asked, worried for his favorite customer and practically grandson. He had never seen Naruto so down before and if something made him like this than it was bad. The blonde ball of energy never let anything bother him to much so seeing him like this was disconcerning to say the least.

Naruto forced out a smile as he took the stool. "I'm alright old man, I just didn't sleep all that well last night." Naruto lied. Unfortuneatuly, the two he was trying to descieve were ones of the small list of people who could read him easily and it was obvious he was trying to mask his real emotions. This earned from both daughter and father a scowl towards Naruto. Ayame went around the back and appeared next to the blonde boy.

"We all know that's not true Naruto, please tell us what's wrong." Ayame politely asked as she put a hand on his shoulder as a sign of trust. Naruto lost his smile and looked deep into the eyes of the girl he conscidered his sister in all but name.

Small tears began falling from his eyes as his mind once again rushed through the event that brought him to his present state. He began explaining what happened the day before and to say that the two ramen chef were mad was an understatement. They had both heard of the admiration and love the blonde boy had for this Sakura girl and to just blow him off was heartless to say the least.

Naruto kept on crying after he was done telling the story since the wounds were still fresh. He had decided to let go of his unrequeited love but he knew it would still hurt. One does not lose their first love and go as if nothing ever happened. To make matters worst, Naruto has been alone for extremely long and this has led him to cherish anyone who he has come to conscider close to him and after that fateful day so long ago, Sakura had becomed one of his important people.

(Flashback)

"Mom, mom where are you?" A young, six year old Sakura screamed fearfully. She was surrounded by trees and was walking aimlessly. She had tears in her eyes as every attempt of calling for help have not been answered.

Just then a wolf jumped from one of the bushes, crashing into the pink haired girl as she screamed with all her might. The animal stared at his pray, growling as it's teeth neered her face. It opened it's powerful jaws as to finish it's pray but before it could close it's mouth, a rock hit the animal in it's face, making it stumble from on top of the girl.

"Hey furball, leave her alone!" A boy, no older than Sakura herself at the time yelled at the growling wolf in front. Fear was evident in his face but he stayed his ground. He threw another rock towards the beast, this time hitting it in the eye. The wolf whined before speeding away from the two younglings.

Sakura was trembling in fear as she stared at her blonde knight in shining armor. He walked towards the frozen girl on the ground, unsure of what he was doing. Years of being treated like hell had left the poor boy's social skills very low. He kneeled down and offered his hand gingerly to the bubble gum haired girl. She stared at it for a minute before taking it and standing.

"Hey, whats your name?" The blonde boy asked excitedly with a smile on his face. It was practically contagious so Sakura had no choice but to return it. Sure, Naruto didn't know what to do in the current situation but he supposed that smiling would help in some way. Seeing she returned it as she was standing up was enough to ease the tension.

"My name is Sakura, Sakura Haruno." The girl introduced herself happily to her savior. It then dawned on her that she was still lost in the forest. Her smile left and a look of worry and panic began appearing on her face making Naruto quirk his head sideways.

"Are you ok Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, not really noticing the added "chan" to her name. Sakura noticed though and blushed lightly but looked down sadly. Tears were once again falling from her eyes making Naruto panic. It would have been comical if it wasn't for the situation.

"I'm lost, I... I cant find momma, I-Im scared." Sakura stammered out as she began trembling softly in fear. "Their was a little w-white rabit and I followed it. I-I looked back and momma wasn't there anymore." Sakura explained betweem sobs.

Naruto looked at the little girl in front of him with a saddened expression before smiling lightly and taking her hand in his. Subtlety was never his dtrong suit anyways. She looked at him strangely with a small blush on her cheeks. Naruto began dragging her with him through the forest.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, I know the way back." Naruto said smiling back at her. She was dazed by the small boy's blue eyes and his smile for a second before blushing lightly once more. "We'll find your mom in no time, believe it!" The blomde haired boy announced as he threw his hand up in a fist making Sakura giggle lightly.

"Your wierd." The pink haired girl said cutely as she was being led back to the village by Naruto. The blonde boy rubbed the back of his head, embarressed by her proclamation. At least she wasn't openly insulting him like the rest of the villagers and she had said it jokingly.

"Sakura, Sakura dear, where are you?" A pink haired woman yelled frantically while looking everywhere. She didn't know when her daughter had run off but she was starting to get scared since it was almost nightfall.

"Mommy!" The woman heard behind her as she spun to wrap her daughter in her arms as if her life depended on it. "Mommy, mommy, that nice boy saved me. I got lost and I wolf attacked me but that nice boy scared it away." The small girl explained happily as she pointed towards the boy some distance away. When she saw who it was, she gasped lightly and began to walk towards the boy.

Naruto watched the moment with sad eyes since he never had a family. It hurt him to see the reunion, knowing that he would never get to experience the love of a mother. He started to get worried as he saw that the woman was heading his way. He never had any good expiriences with the adult population of Konoha so he had reason to be scared.

The woman saw the boy flinch and her eyes saddened. She knew what he had inside but she never blamed the boy for anything. The crimes of the beast were not of his jailor and she hated how he was treated. She reached him and went down on one knee to look at him in his blue eyes.

"Hey little man, I heard you saved my daughter and kept her safe. Is that true?" The woman asked making Naruto nod slowly without taking his eyes from the ground. The woman frowned and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, It's ok. I won't do anything to you. My name is Mebuki Haruno, what's your name?" Sakura's mother asked with a smile on her face.

Naruto looked up hesitently and managed to pull of a small smile towards the woman. He might be incredibly nervous but he was polite. "Name's Naruto, are you Sakura's mom?" Naruto asked excitedly making Mebuki laugh lightly. She had heard he was energetic and seeing him like this was refreshing to the situation. She could see he was nervous and she didn't blame him at all. Not after all the things the rest of the villagers have done to the poor boy.

"Yes, yes I am. Hey young man, would you like to come for dinner at our home?" Mebuki invited making Naruto look stunned for a moment before breaking into one of the largest smiles he had ever given. He nodded enthusiastically and followed both Haruno's to their household.

The Haruno family was not the richest family in the village. They lived in a modest, two story house. The first floor had the living room and the kitchen, upstairs held all the rooms for the family which was a master bedroom and a smaller bedroom across the hall. Their was also a bathroom in the second floor, close to Sakura's room.

Mebuki and Sakura entered the house, followed by a nervous looking blonde boy. A man about the same age as Mebuki was sitting on the couch, reading the newspaper, greeted his wife and daughter and raised an eye brow as he laid eyes on Naruto.

"I see we have a guest. Hay young man, names Kizeshi." The man greeted, standing up and extending his hand towards Naruto. The blonde boy looked at the hand quizzily before smiling and shaking the older man's hand.

"Now then honey, this young man just saved our daughter." Mebuki said as she began telling the story of what happened to her husband.

The rest of the day was spent pleasently as Naruto and Sakura got to know each other. That day he had found his first friend and he would treasure her greatly. After dinner, they played until it was dark and Naruto had to go back to his apartment. He said goodbye to the Haruno's and began walking, not knowing that a mob was waiting by his apartment for the regular "demon beating."

(Flashback End)

Naruto just didn't understand how she could have forgotten or if she didn't, treat him like that. He had fallen in love with her since she was the only one who showed him kindness before meeting the Ichirakus. After some time had passed, Sakura had become friends with Ino and began to ignore Naruto completely. He had waited by the park where they had always played together but she would not show. When he joined the academy, he had thought that he would have a chance to finally be with the girl he so desired.

How wrong he was.

-I decided to continue this story since it recieved so much good feedback. Thank you so much to all of you and I hope you like this chapter. Let me know what you think in the reviews and I know this chapter was mostly a flashback but I'm just setting up the story.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Ayame to the Rescue

Ayame was angry, no, she was enraged. She might have not met this Sakura but after listening to what she did to her little brother, she wanted to strangle the pink haired girl with all her might. She just couldn't believe someone would do that to one of the sweetest boy in excistance. Seeing the normally happy boy crying his eyes out was just to much for her. A fire lit up in her eyes and she grabbed Naruto's shoulders, making him look at her with teary eyes.

"Naruto Uzumaki, stop crying right now." Ayame ordered forcefully making Naruto look at her strangely. Rare was the time when Ayame would speak forcefully to her adoptive brother so this turn of events left both Taichu and Naruto stunned. "So what if this Sakura chick stood you up. Their is millions more out there and your one of the sweetest, nicest and cutest boys your age so, don't waste your tears on a girl that is not worth it." Ayame stated matter-of-factly as Naruto continued to stare at Ayame.

He had loved Sakura for a very long time and the thought of looking elsewhere had not crossed his mind at all. He lightly blushed at the compliments but his mind began working on overdrive. She was right, he was wasting his time crying. Sakura couldn't be forced to care if he even dies so some tears were useless. Just a waste of fluids from your body.

"I'm not saying it'll be easy to forget about her, much less since it's your first love but don't let it keep you down. Use this experiences, even if they are bad ones, to move forward. Just look around, their's more than one girl in the world Naruto." Ayame finished with a gentle smile.

Naruto began thinking over every word that Ayame had said thoroughly. She was completly and utterly right. Even in the academy there was more girls than Sakura. He just had that infatuation on her for so long that he grew blind to all the others. Now that he thought about it, he was just like Sakura is to Sasuke in every way and it made him cringe visibly to come to that realization.

Naruto formed a small but true smile and directed it towards Ayame before engulfing her in a firm hug. He kept repeating thank you over and over again really quickly making both Ayame and Taichu chuckle at his childish yet cute response to Ayame's little talk.

"Thank's big sis, I needed that." Naruto said as he jumped back and began rubbing the back of his head nervously, small smile still plastered on his face. Right then, realization kicked in and his expression changed to one of shock before bursting through the flaps screaming. "I'm super late!"

Ayame giggled at his antics as she turned around to be greeted by a smile from her father. He was proud on how his daughter had handled the situation and he let her know exactpy that with a hug. "How can a man have such an amazing daughter." He whispered lovingly.

(With a Particular Orange Blur)

Naruto ran at full speed towards the academy, completely ignoring the glares from the village. Even in this rushed state, Naruto's small smile persisted on his lips as thoughts of Ayame's little speech kept repeating in his head. He didn't pay much attention to the fact that he would see Sakura again when he arrived at the academy but he sure as hell wasn't going to care.

He was very close to the academy now and with a burst of speed he zoomed through the halls and stopped in front of his academy classroom's door. He gingerly knocked before opening the door lightly, hearing that Iruka was in the middle of a lecture. All eyes moved to the door making Naruto blush lightly and begin rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Uhm, sorry I'm late Iruka-sensei." Naruto said as he saw the exasparated look in his teacher's scarred face before making his way towards his seat. Normally he would sit next to Sakura as he has done all year but just looking at her was slightly unnerving so he went with the next empty sit which was located next to the one and only Ino Yamanaka. *insert facepalm here*

The minute he sat down though, he felt a heated glare which was coming from none other than the blonde girl mentioned before. It then clicked in his head that maybe he chose the wrong seat since in perspective, Ino was far worse of a fangirl than Sakura was so he stood up to look for another seat but unnintentionally got Iruka's attention.

"Naruto, sit down already." Iruka ordered, tick mark appearing on his forhead to show his annoyance. This made Naruto slightly growl and begrudgingly sit down. He knew that sitting here was a bad idea and now he would have to wait until tomorrow to do it. Kami have mercy on him, Ino won't.

"Why did you sit next to me baka, only Sasuke-kun has that right." Ino spat lowly, venom dripping with her words. Naruto only looked at her with a sad expression that made Ino flinch almost unnoticably.

"I'm sorry Ino, I just can't sit in the same place and your sit was the closest." Naruto explained giving Ino a small smile at the end. This did nothing to stop her glaring and Naruto sighed knowing this was going to be a long day. "If it bothers you that much, by tomorrow I'll be in another sit so you only have to hold on for today." Naruto assured with a small smile at the end before looking forward.

Ino was a little taken aback by Naruto's small declaration, since when was he this reserved, this... calm. The Naruto she knew was a loudmouthed idiot who would repeatedly exclaim the same two things. His want to be hokage and his love for the pink haired bit... I mean Sakura. Not only did he refuse a seat next to his crush but instead of exploding on Ino's face after her declaration, he just gave her a sad smile and gave up.

"Yeah you better, what if Sasuke decides to sit with me today and your in his seat?" Ino said with a disgusted look on her face. It hurt Naruto since it was basically the same look that Sakura gave him but much more heated. Naruto sighed and rose his hand up, gesturing to get Iruka's attention.

"Yes, Naruto?" Iruka asked, confused by Naruto's sudden gain of manners. The blomde boy would normally scream his request instead of raising his hand. Something was wrong and it was bad. Naruto actually showed respect?

"Can I please change seats, Ino doesn't want me next to her and I don't want to annoy her." Naruto asked with his eyes reflecting a small amount of sadness. He quickly composed himself and gave a small smirk to ligten the atmosphere.

Iruka knew that Ino didn't very much like Naruto so he could understand why he wanted to move but what confused him even more was Naruto's politeness in the situation. Naruto would normally ignore Ino's rantings and the look he had on his eyes, even if for a split second, unnerved him slightly. Naruto was supposed to be happy, not like this.

"Sure Naruto, take any seat you want." Iruka said smiling which managed to grow Naruto's smirk lightly. He quickly thanked him and stood up from the seat and inspected the classroom. Their were many seats still open but he decided to go to one that was closest to the window and had noone around him.

Iruka was confused as was the entire classroom for a couple of minutes from Naruto's choice of seat but quickly composed themselves and continued with the class.

Unknown to anyone, Naruto had made a silent descicion to pour all of his focus into becoming a ninja instead of thinking about complicated things such as relationships or things of that sort. He just hoped that it was for the better.

He never noticed the pair of emerald eyes looking at him with a frown on her face.

'Why do I feel like I messed up in some way'

-Man it's been a long time since I wrote anything. Sorry guys but destiny came out and I have been burning my ps4 playing that game. Minecraft to since it was released for the console as well.

-Now, Naruto will be much smarter than in the anime since, honestly, Naruto pisses me off with how stupid he could be sometimes. His a damn ninja for Christ's sake. Please review to tell me if you like it or if I should fix anything.


End file.
